WHO WOULD JESUS OSTRACIZE?

The Southern Baptists -- the denomination I grew up in and one of whose colleges I attended in Texas -- continues to send unmistakable bulletins of exclusivity and intolerance to the rest of the world.

Rev. Tony Cartledge, 55, editor of the Biblical Recorder, a biweekly newspaper published by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is being ousted as too liberal.

"I stand by my conviction that unity in diversity is better than uniformity in doctrine, but that has become the minority view and some have considered my efforts divisive," he wrote on the paper's website.

According to the religion writer for the N&O, "The convention has increasingly taken a conservative bent, ostracizing churches that affiliate with more liberal Baptist groups and barring gay-friendly churches from membership."

Yowza! The way to win the world for the message of hope embodied in Christ is to constrict yourselves into a tiny ball so tight nobody "foreign" can get in and no squeak of light can escape.